Structure and electrical characteristics of silicon field emission microelectronic devices

Field emission current was measured from arrays of wet chemically etched silicon cold-cathode diodes. Two types of cathode tips were measured both as-etched and after sharpening by low-temperature oxidation. The field enhancement increase resulting from tip sharpening is less than expected from simulation. The currents measured follow a Fowler-Nordheim characteristic and are temperature insensitive from 130 to 360 K. Turn-on voltage is near 4 V, a value much less than measured from most other field emission sources. With a 920-nm anode-cathode spacing, a minimum 0.2-μA current per cathode was found. Telegraph noise of about 1% at 20 V was observed. These sharpened silicon tips are a viable cold cathode for vacuum microelectronics and other electron device applications